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Day 13 at the 2011 French Open features the men's semi finals and we have the best four male players on the planet facing off for a place in the final. I've already nailed my colours firmly to the Novak Djokovic mast against Roger Federer, but what of the other semi that features Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal? I went out on a limb in backing Robin Soderling against Rafa in the quarters, only to be greeted with an insipid effort from the Swede, who only started playing in the third set, once the match was lost. When Soderling did find his range, he took Rafa to a breaker and although the Spaniard's was a much improved effort on his previous rounds, I still don't think he's at his best, which gives Murray a squeak here. Murray's has been an eventful journey to the last four, with...

[b]Lukasz Kubot (POL) v Carlos Berlocq (ARG) [/b] Lukasz Kubot made headline news at the French Open on Tuesday when he defeated the number 11 seed and winner of two clay court tournaments this year Nicolas Almagro. Not only did the big serving Pole make it through to the second round at Roland Garros for the first time in his career, he managed to do so from two sets down to take the match 6-4 in the fifth set. With his confidence given a massive boost after a difficult start to 2011 that has so far seen the 29-year-old drop from a high of 41 in the world rankings (April 2010) to 122, Kubot will have a strong advantage coming into Thursdays match against Carlos Berlocq. Not only does he lead their head-to-head series 2-1 - including a recent three set win at the Madrid Master...

[b]Juan Monaco (ARG) v Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [/b]One of the better first round matches to get involved in takes place on Tuesday between two players familiar with one another's game. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who has reached the fourth round of the French Open the past four years, will be a little tense about his chances of reaching the same round this year due to a tough first round match-up against grinder Juan Monaco. Although Verdasco's record and ranking at the French Open is superior to the Argentine's, it is hard to ignore Monaco's 7-2 overall head-to-head series lead over the left-hander, even more significant is the fact that five of those wins were on clay, one of which took place at the 2006 French Open in four sets. These head-to-head stats coupled with the fact that...

[b]Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) v Frederico Gil (POR) [/b] Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis is in terrible shape and form coming into Monday's French Open match-up against 2011 Monte Carlo quarter finalist Frederico Gil of Portugal and in my opinion he's overpriced at 1.9 to win. In part due to injuries that have so far plagued Baghdatis this year, the former Australian Open finalist has recorded a shocking two wins from his last 11 since retiring from The Dubai Open back in February. In fact, Baghdatis's form is so bad that he has lost six of the last seven matches when priced as favourite, four of his last five on clay, and has yet to win two consecutive matches since his quarter final appearance in Rotterdam, also in February. Facing the Cypriot on Monday is a player who is no stranger ...